New York City On Track To Run Out Of COVID Vaccine This Week, Mayor Says
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- Mayor Bill de Blasio says the city will run out of coronavirus vaccine by Thursday and there's no word when more doses will be delivered. Instead of ramping up appointments, locations are now ramping up cancellations.
All vaccine appointments at the Mount Sinai Health System were cancelled through Tuesday. The state and federal governments are blaming each other, but people CBS2's Lisa Rozner spoke to said they don't care who's at fault. They just want it resolved.
"Got a call this morning -- you're cancelled, very sorry, but we don't have the vaccine," Brooklyn resident Gloria Hacken said.
It was the disappointing call Hacken and so many others received Tuesday.
When asked how she feels, Hacken said, "Terrible. You know, I have had some issues some respiratory issues."
WATCH: Mayor De Blasio's Update On COVID Vaccine Distribution
Hacken was scheduled to get vaccinated Wednesday at the New York Community Hospital in Midwood. President Barry Stern said two-thirds of patients there have COVID, but three months of appointments were cancelled after the city told him it hasn't received enough doses from the feds for widespread distribution.
"We actually placed the order last week for an additional batch of the vaccine," Stern said. "People are angry and upset and very concerned."
Due to limited supply, NYU is only offering vaccines to patients 75 and older who have had primary care visits in the last three months.
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On Tuesday, the mayor said more than 220,000 vaccines had been distributed, adding, on average, every three seconds a New Yorker was getting vaccinated, and the city has the capability to vaccinate 300,000 New Yorkers this week alone. However...
"This Thursday, two days from now, and we will have literally nothing left to give as of Friday," de Blasio said. "Right now, it is up to the federal government. It is up the state. It's up to the manufacturers."
Gov. Andrew Cuomo said the state has administered nearly 80% of doses received from the feds, even though a U.S. Department of Health and Human Services representative claims the number is closer to 54%.
Cuomo said he wants to buy the vaccine directly from Pfizer, but that agreement would need HHS approval.
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Also on Tuesday, Rockland County Executive Ed Day sent a letter to the company asking that any sale "…include a provision which guarantees the distribution of vaccine directly to Pfizer's home county of Rockland."
De Blasio seemed optimistic that President-elect Joe Biden would send more doses to New York. Brooklyn Councilman Chaim Deutsch asked for "immediate action from Sen. Schumer."
"The demand is just unbelievable," Stern said.
"The bottom line is New York is a disaster," Hacken said. "They've got to get together and make definite plans."
Pfizer would only say it's open to collaborating with HHS on a distribution model. It needs the agency's approval to sell directly to New York.
Meanwhile, Schumer says he already secured $1.6 billion to get the vaccine to New York, and he hopes to get more money under the Biden administration.
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